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April O'Neil (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
April O'Neil is a fictional character from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics and all related media. In all of the TMNT continuities, she is a good friend of the Turtles: Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo. April made her first appearance in the Mirage comic series in 1984 as a computer programmer. She was later portrayed as a strong-willed news reporter in the Turtles' first animated series, as a warrior in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comic produced by Archie Comics, and various other personas in different TMNT media. April was later voiced by Renae Jacobs in the 1987 animated series, in the 2003 animated series by Veronica Taylor, and by Sarah Michelle Gellar in the 2007 film TMNT. In the 2012 animated series, April is voiced by Mae Whitman. In live-action media she has been by Judith Hoag (1990), Paige Turco (1991 and 1993), and Megan Fox (2014). In film 1990 film In the first live-action film, April was played by Judith Hoag. She was a television reporter working for Channel 3 news under Charles "Chuck" Pennington, doing an investigative series on mysterious thefts in New York City whose culprits vanished without a trace. One night while leaving work, she is accosted by teenage thieves in league with the Foot Clan, but the Turtles appear and save her under the cover of darkness. In the aftermath, April discovers and grabs Raphael's lost sai; Raphael soon follows her to retrieve the weapon and saves her again when she is attacked by a group of Foot Ninja in the subway. During the attack, April is knocked unconscious while trying to fight them off with her purse. Unsure what to do with her, Raphael carries her to the Turtles' sewer lair. Though afraid at first, April eventually comes to regard the Turtles and Splinter as friends, even letting them stay in her apartment after the Foot Clan discovered and destroyed their sewer dwellings. Mirroring the Mirage Studios storyline, April is fired from her news job and the Foot once again attack the Turtles in the antique shop, prompting April, the Turtles, and Casey Jones to retreat to her family's farmhouse in Northampton, Massachusetts. She keeps a journal documenting their forced sabbatical in addition to drawing sketches of the Turtles. She grows extremely close to the four brothers: Michelangelo, who initially confesses to having a crush on April, later addressing her as "Sis," indicating the role she has come to occupy in the Turtles' family. During their respite, April also develops a kind of love-hate relationship with Casey Jones. By the end of the film, she accepts her attraction to him and in the aftermath of Shredder's defeat as well as getting her job back (she had been fired earlier in the film), April asks Casey for a kiss. ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II'' In the sequel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, April was played by Paige Turco. She provides the Turtles and Splinter with a place to stay after the destruction of their lair in the previous film, and helps them research the company responsible for the mutagen that transformed the Turtles into their present state. ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III'' In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, Paige Turco reprised her role as April O'Neil. In the film, April is temporarily transported to feudal Japan, forcing the Turtles to travel back in time to rescue her. ''TMNT'' April was voiced by Sarah Michelle Gellar in the 2007 CGI film. Following the continuity from the previous films, it appeared that she and Casey Jones were engaged in a genuinely close romance, living together in Casey's apartment, and working for a shipping firm. She found Leonardo in Central America at the start of the film while seeking an artifact for Max Winters. No mention was made of her past as a journalist; instead, she now appears to be involved in archaeology. April takes up several forms of ninjitsu training from Splinter, purchasing a black-and-yellow jumpsuit of armor from Japan, and becoming quite skilled in the use of a katana. She demonstrates her combative skills in a one-on-one fight with the far more experienced female ninja Karai. A collectible booklet packed in with her action figure for the film implies that she had become a master of the katana. The figure itself includes a katana, tonfa, and two shoulder armored pads; this outfit was replicated for the movie. In the film's alternate ending, Casey proposes marriage to April and she accepts. This scene is absent from the final cut of the movie but can be found on the DVD. 2014 film and Half Shell April appears in the reboot Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Megan Fox playing the role. During the film, it is revealed that not only was April's father involved in the creation of the turtles as his experiments created the mutagen that turned them into what they are now, but that the young April was responsible for the Turtles and Splinter escaping the destruction of the lab where they were created when she released them into the sewers after the lab was destroyed by her father to prevent Shredder and Eric Sacks getting access to the mutagen. It was reported there was a filmed but unused scene of a fight between April, Vernon Fenwick, Karai, and The Foot in downtown Manhattan that was cut from the finished film. Will Arnett, who played Vernon, said his character "comes out just at the right moment and hits Karai with the gurney and knocks her off balance a little bit. Then April kind of finishes her off." Fox was given a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress for her portrayal of O'Neil. She is reprising her role in the sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Half Shell, which is slated for a 2016 release. Category:Female Characters Category:Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series Category:Characters Category:Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) Character Category:Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze Character Category:Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III Character Category:TMNT Character Category:Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) Character